Letters to the Editor

I find it disturbing to consider that an adult posed a child for an image like “Kissing,” particularly in view of the decapitation [motif].

ERIC HAMELL Germantown

The artist responds:

I would like to clarify that the models in the project are adults. The woman in this photo is 25. My project featured at Eris Temple Arts is a project in which I recreate my own personal childhood memories. The project deals with issues I questioned about myself, things such as gender identity, body image and sexual orientation, as addressed in “Kissing.” The scenarios in each image are real, each a direct re-enactment from my memory. Each person in the series is presented anonymously. I did this in hopes that it would make each issue accessible to the viewer. The project was a way to cope with my past while further strengthening my bond with the people in my present. I can see how without context the image can be misconstrued.

CATHLEEN PARRA via philadelphiaweekly.com

Running Wilde In response to Jessica Foley’s 30-second review of An Ideal Husband:

Clearly, the author missed the exposition given earlier. The sin of his youth referred to in this quote is one of the selling of a state secret, NOT one of homosexuality—implied or otherwise. Yes, Wilde was living in a repressed society and dealing with his own sexuality and this quote can easily be construed as some sort of statement with regards to this, but to imply that Ian Peakes, whose character must wholly love and cherish his wife for the plot to make any sense, should convey a latent homosexual love for Goring seems to me to be unhelpful and, in fact, would be most decidedly detrimental to the telling of the story within the confines of this particular production.

KAREN via philadelphiaweekly.com

In Hot WaterIn response to Brian Freedman’s roundup of local restaurants serving hot chocolate this season:

Wow, was I disappointed after reading this. I really thought I was going to learn of REAL chocolatiers in Philly. Sadly, it’s a list of where I can go and get a melted Hershey’s bar in a cup. Cacao is a remarkably complex and wonderful bean that deserves to be savored, and unfortunately we have become accustomed to mask the wonders of the bean with the sweetness and the high produced by sugar. If anyone is really interested in trying cacao as it should be, Sazon is the place to go. No one else will dare to challenge your palate by offering you cacao in a variety of manners and with a variety of companion ingredients that actually complement, rather than mask, the flavors of the bean.

LUIS SALAZAR via philadelphiaweekly.com

At its essence, hot chocolate is ground cacao, mixed with various other ingredients. This is how the Aztecs, Mayans and early Europeans drank it. Modern hot chocolate is pressed cacao (to remove the cocoa butter) to make chocolate (and the various ways companies then “dope” the chocolate) and then use that medium for the masses to drink. So every drink you described, at its base, is already diluted. I challenge you to go to Sazon Restaurant, and try their cacao drinks. There are over 20 different drinks that the Alchemist has created. I assure you, once you try them, you will be forced to retract this article or write a new one.

The PLCB is a self-sufficient state-run system that puts money back into the coffers. If it is done away with, 4,000-plus people will be out of work. Only the big-box stores will be able to purchase the licenses. Will prices drop? Very doubtful. The state has such huge buying power, that no one other than Walmart-type stores will be able to force suppliers to lower prices. It would be a quick windfall for the state, but over the long term, the money that the PLCB puts into the coffers each year will disappear. [We] would be shooting ourselves in the foot and putting thousands out of work. I can almost guarantee higher prices, big stores as owners, not many rural stores, less choices, poor product knowledge, no specialty ordering/transfers from nearby PLCB run liquor stores and many other issues.

COMMENTS

Comments 1 - 1 of 1

1. Anonymous said... on Feb 6, 2013 at 03:00PM

“As long as you don't count the $120 million interest free loan the PLCB gets every year to start off with you can say they are self-sufficient. The 5% rule in the proposal prevents "only big box stores" from purchasing all the licenses. While not every store will get the same prices you can bet they all will be far more efficient then a government agency with no incentive.Stores the size of Joe Canal's, Moore Brothers and Total Wine (30,000 sq ft)will enter the market with thousands more products on the shelf then the largest PLCB store (~10,000 sq ft). Since the PLCB has only one store in 9 counties already I'd say that "not many rural stores" is already in place. More choice, more freedom and the state out of the retail liquor business are all benefits to the citizens.”